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Superman Family
History Origin The Superman Family is an unofficial informal name given to Superman and his various allies. However, a subgroup called Team Superman is another unofficial informal name for Superman and his partners. Golden Age Before the planet Krypton was destroyed, a wise scientist named Jor-El and his wife, Lara Lor-Van, placed their infant child, Kal-El, into a rocket spaceship and sent him towards Earth. After landing on Earth, Kal-El is adopted by virtuous parents, Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent, which changed his name to Clark Kent. Young Clark soon found out out that due to the yellow sun, he has astonishing superpowers beyond that of any human being. Going through high school and college, Clark decided to use his powers for good and started working at The Daily Planet as a reporter. With this job, Clark could be informed of any perilous event where his superpowers are needed. Thus, the hero Superman was born. For the first several years in his career, Superman operated alone, believing he can do most good by himself. Retroactively, a comic book series chronicled Clark Kent's adventures when he was younger and he became Superboy, but that was erased from history after the disaster in "the first Crisis". Silver Age Superman found out he had a female cousin, Kara Zor-El, who was sent by her parents Zor-El and Alura from Argo City to be raised by Kal-El. Kara adopted the aliases, "Linda Lee", and "Linda Danvers" and worked alongside Superman for three years as Superman's "secret weapon". While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world. When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Alura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial. Graduating high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to College on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until 1971, when she graduates there, too. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes where she develops a special friendship with its many-times leader Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the Merboy). Supergirl allied with Batgirl on several occasions while under her decided alias, "Linda Lee Danvers", she took a variety of jobs including graduate school in acting, television reporter, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap "Secret Hearts." Besides Supergirl, another ally, Eradicator, was introduced when he saved Superman's life at the expense of his life. Afterwards, Eradicator would soon become a superhero while also sometimes being a supervillain. Bronze Age and Modern Age As modern times came along, many reincarnations of the Superman Family were established in parallel realities, hence "The Multiverse". In the first Crisis, the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S and Earth-X joined forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Doctor Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. Batgirl gives her eulogy at a publicly held memorial service in Chicago. Batgirl states, "Kara is a hero, she will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Alura. Several years later, Supergirl "returned". Her origin is similar to that of the Silver Age except that she was older than Kal-El, but her ship was caught in suspended animation after being thrust into a large green kryptonite meteorite. As a result for being in that animation for 16 years, she's now younger than Kal-El. Kara has fought against Darkseid in his plot to make her leader of his Female Furies. Subsequently, Kara has rediscovered herself, joined the Legion of Super-Heroes after traveling to the 31st century, and filled in for her temporarily depowered cousin as guardian of Metropolis on one occasion. Two other "Supergirls" who merged into one, Linda Danvers and Matrix, have helped Superman and his allies occasionally as well. Besides Supergirl, Superboy also "returns" after the death of Superman as a clone of Lex Luthor and Superman. Due to implications of being created by Project Cadmus, Superboy succeeded into fully becoming a force of good after severing his mind control from Lex Luthor, who schemed to make him a sleeper agent among the superhero community. Sadly, Superboy didn't live enough soon afterwards when during "the second Crisis", he died in a fight with Superboy-Prime. Another one of Superman's allies, Strange Visitor, soon met her peril during Brainiac 13's conspiracy to take over the universe. Strange Visitor aka Sharon Vance was a childhood friend of Clark's in Smallville, Kansas. She became struck by lighting while flying a plane with Kismet, making them both fuse into one being of pure electromagnetic energy. She became famous as a hero in her city after battling Gorilla Grodd. Unfortunately, she died after giving her powers to Superman in order to fight Imperiex's fleet. Another ally of Superman came in the form of John Henry Irons aka Steel, another superhero who was inspired by Kal-El to fight for good after Superman died. Steel eventually came to Metropolis and helped Kal-El fight Doomsday. In Superman's temporary absence, he fought off several gangs and Superman impostors including Eradicator. Ironically, Eradicator made Kal-El come back to life after making him a conduit to base his new body on. Steel fought The Eradicator in order to stop him from killing potential adversaries as part of the Eradicator's plot to make himself the ultimate superhero in Superman's absence. Eradicator soon relocated to Coast City, hoping to make an admirable hero public image. Mongul and Cyborg Superman nearly destroyed Eradicator in an elaborate plot to frame him for the attack and establish another Warworld. Eradicator returned to The Fortress of Solitude and discovered Superman, alive and well. Kal-El thanked the Eradicator for reviving him and touched by that sentiment, Eradicator then joined forces with Superman, Steel, Supergirl, and Green Lantern to stop Mongul and Cyborg Superman from destroying Metropolis. In the process, Eradicator sacrificed himself again by shielding Superman from a lethal-blast of Kryptonite fuel, thereby giving Kal-El his powers back as result of Eradicator's mass which altered the kryptonite radiation, allowing Superman to absorb power from it. Soon thereafter, S.T.A.R. Labs employee David Connor merged with the dead Eradicator, forming another being. After another fit of villainy in which Eradicator/Connor attempts to merge with Brainiac 13 to recreate Krypton, Eradicator returned to his humanoid state of being which overrode his program through Connor's humanity. Connor changed his costume to have more Kryptonian roots like Superman, and became a superhero. Just before "the second Crisis", Connor went into a coma after fighting OMACs. After being a crucial figure in saving the world many times, John Irons retired up until "the second Crisis" where he had to don his costume again in order to fight off the Secret Society of Super-Villains in Metropolis. During his short retirement, he made another armored suit for his niece, Natasha Irons, who became the new Steel temporarily. Within a year later, a violent falling out occurs between them, leading John to destroy her armor out of spite because she joined the Teen Titans. Luthor's Everyman Project further escalates things when John finds out more about Lex's half-baked project, which grants people superpowers for a limited time and then dissipates. Having been injected with the Project's solution, John lashes out at Luthor earlier for lying to him. Just as John was going to kill Luthor, Natasha stopped him. Ultimately, the Teen Titans converge on LexCorp and Natasha aids them by using John's sledgehammer to send an electromagnetic pulse, depriving Luthor of his newfound superpowers, and allowing her uncle to defeat him. Afterwards, Natasha and John reconcile their relationship and re-establish their company, Steelworks. Team Superman Since the Golden Age, Team Superman has been a driving force for saving the world alongside their leader, Superman. Team Superman's prime directive is to help Superman in any dire situation where help is needed. Team Superman also has the task of filling in for Superman if he is absent or ill. Numerous allies, many of them from Krypton, joined the team at certain points in Superman's career. One ally, Superman of Earth-2, an alternate Superman, helped Kal-El during "the first Crisis." Superman repaid him by securing him, his wife Lois Lane, and friends Alexander Luthor, Jr. and Superboy-Prime in an inter-dimensional realm paradise. Years later, Luthor and Prime advanced an agenda to secure unrivaled power over the universe so that they can make it "perfect". They used Kal-L to help them by promising to save Lois, even though they knew she was going to spontaneously die anyway. When Lois finally dies, Kal-L blames Kal-El for her death and almost severely injures him until Wonder Woman stops the fight. Realizing he's been used, Kal-L decides to help the Justice League of America fight the Secret Society of Super-Villains of which Alexander had commandeered. After confronting Alexander, Kal-L and Kal-El come up with a plan to stop Superboy-Prime's corrupt plot to become the only superhero in existence. They battle Prime and thrust him through a red sun, destroying his Anti-Monitor armor. In the ensuing battle afterwards, Prime brutally punches Kal-L, claiming he's doing this to help the universe. Kal-El realizes Prime's insanity when he says,"I'm the only who can help this messed-up universe. After you're gone, I will be Superman!" Prime chokes him but Superman gains the upper hand, ripping Prime's S-shield off, saying he's doesn't know anything about being Superman. As Prime continues to say he's better than everybody, Superman simply says, "It's not about where you came from. It's about what you do. It's about action". With those words, Superman defeats Prime with renewed confidence but sadly, Kal-L succumbed to his injuries and died. His cousin, Kara Zor-L of Earth-Two, mourned his death. In time, Kara aka Power Girl would join the ranks of Team Superman, thereby assisting Kal-El in his heroic endeavors. Another ally, the alleged daughter of Superman, Cir-El, has proven her worth on his team. Coming from an alternate future, Cir-El had proven time and time again that she was an undeniably prominent figure in restoring justice. Ultimately, it's revealed that she's not Superman's daughter and was instead created by Brainiac as part of an elaborate scheme to horrifically alter the future for his own ends. Cir-El then jumps in a time portal to prevent herself from being born, allowing Brainiac's planned future to never happen. Cir-El briefly came back to assist Superman and Batman in a reality-altering fight against various menaces from many alternate dimensions. She has since returned to her place in time thanks to Mister Mxyzptlk. Another female ally, Girl 13, is a friend of Cir-El's and she's an avid member of Team Superman. She has helped Superman on many occasions; she's practically Kal-El's assistant. Girl 13, also known by her real name, Traci Thirteen, is best friends with Natasha Irons, and she's also in a relationship with the new Blue Beetle. Two other partners that have Kryptonian origins are Nightwing and Krypto. The son of Kryptonian criminals General Zod and Ursa, Lor-Zod has effectively torn away his family ties in favor of furthering his capacity for good. Kal-El became his foster parent, therby naming him Christopher Kent. He proved useful when he thwarted his parents' planned invasion of Earth, along with his Team Superman members. When his parents broke out of the Phantom Zone a second time, they attacked Kal-El and his family. Christopher sacificed himself by closing the breach of the Zone which could have sucked all the Kryptonians into it and destroy Metropolis due to another one of Luthor's devious machinations. Thought to be dead by Kal-El and his allies for some time, Chris was actually rescued by Flamebird after almost 20 years and recruited Chris to become Nightwing, another legendary Kryptonian hero besides Flamebird. Kryptonian canine, Krypto, has also helped Team Superman in several situations including the Kryptonian invasion and the fight against Superboy-Prime during the second Crisis. Several of Team Superman's missions were integral to Superman's well-being. However, they can endanger themselves and Superman, along with his other allies. During the events where Superman and Batman were public enemies, then-President Luthor engineered a leak of false news concerning Superman's and Batman's capture in order to manipulate their associates into attacking the White House. Sure enough, Team Superman, consisting of Cir-El, Superboy, Krypto, Natasha, and the Batman Family invaded the White House just as Luthor planned. This entrapment prompted Batman to save them. Aside from their mistakes, current Team Superman members have shown their resilience against injustice and their enormous capacity for making the world a better place. Lots of members have come and gone over the years in the Superman Family and Team Superman, but at the core of the group, Kal-El has always been present to continue being Earth's greatest protector. Allies *The Guardian *Steel *Agent Liberty *Starlight *Kent Family *Legion of Super-Heroes *Green Lantern Corps *Justice League *Justice Society of America *The Outsiders *Titans *Teen Titans *Metropolis Special Crimes Unit *Batman Family Enemies *Lex Luthor *Darkseid *Brainiac *General Zod *Superman-Prime *Doomsday *Cyborg Superman *Parasite *Mongul I *Mongul II *Metallo *Mister Mxyztplk *Livewire *Bruno Mannheim *LexCorp *Legion of Super-Villains *Intergang Equipment *Steel uses a large steel sledgehammer to inflict damage to his enemies. Transportation *Self-Flight Weapons *Various superpowers including super-strength, X-ray vision, heat vision, super-telescopic vision, invulnerability, super-breath, and super-hearing Notes *Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal. *Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal. Trivia *A comic book series entitled "Superman Family" ran from 1974 to 1982. The series included the adventures of Superman (Kal-L with his wife, Lois Lane; the first Krypto's adventures and Clark Kent's life without being Superman. In Other Media *Coming Soon Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Team_Superman *http://www.comicvine.com/superman-family/65-56081/ Category:Teams